Carmella Talks Getting Her Start In Wrestling, Having Unfinished Business With Charlotte Flair

With wrestling in her blood, it always seemed to be destiny that Carmella would one day become a WWE Superstar. Her father, Paul Van Dale, was a jobber for WWE during the Golden Age and she comes from an athletic background herself.

Carmella talked about her path into the wrestling industry with KATC TV ahead of SmackDown airing from the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana.

"I have a background in dance so I danced my entire life, since I was three years old," stated Carmella. "And I cheered in the NFL [for the Patriots), in the NBA [for the Lakers]. My dad was a wrestler back in the early 90s, so it just brought everything full circle with my dad's background and my love of performing and entertainment, and now here I am in the WWE."

Carmella cheered for the Patriots for three seasons before applying for Tough Enough in 2010. But she then withdrew her application after landing a role as a Laker Girl. She would finally join NXT in 2013 and made her main roster debut on SmackDown in 2016.

After becoming the first Ms. Money in the Bank, Carmella cashed in and defeated Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship in April 2018. But Charlotte won back the title at SummerSlam (with some help from Becky Lynch) and Carmella is eager to regain the title that was once hers.

"Well, Charlotte Flair," Carmella responded when asked who her rival is. "She took my title from me. I did beat her twice, however she beat me and took my title from me unfortunately. But I'm gonna get it back."

Charlotte is scheduled to face Sonya Deville tonight on SmackDown. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Carmella get involved in the match one way or another.